Wall Street banks are grappling with the collapse in IPOs and debt and equity issuance this year, a sharp reversal from the deals boom that drove results last year. The change was triggered by broad declines in financial assets, pessimism over the possibility of a recession and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Equities trading produced $2.96 billion in revenue in the quarter, above the $2.77 billion estimate, while fixed-income trading revenue of $2.5 billion handily exceeded the $1.98 billion estimate.by concern over inflation and recession in a period of transition after nearly 15 years of easy-money policies by central banks came to an end.
Still, parts of Morgan Stanley's operations benefited. Bond traders are expected to post strong results, thanks to volatility in commodities and interest rates.